Aberrant hippocampus and amygdala morphology associated with cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.

Background: Working memory deficits are thought to be a primary disturbance in schizophrenia. We aimed to identify differences in morphology of the hippocampus and amygdala in patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy controls (HCs), and in patients who were either neuropsychologically near normal (NPNN) or neuropsychologically impaired (NPI). Morphological disturbances in the same subfields of the hippocampus and amygdala, but of greater magnitude in those with NPI, would strengthen evidence for the centrality of these limbic regions and working memory deficits in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

Morphological Biomarkers in the Amygdala and Hippocampus of Children and Adults at High Familial Risk for Depression.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is highly familial, and the hippocampus and amygdala are important in the pathophysiology of MDD. Whether morphological markers of risk for familial depression are present in the hippocampus or amygdala is unknown. We imaged the brains of 148 individuals, aged 6 to 54 years, who were members of a three-generation family cohort study and who were at either high or low familial risk for MDD.

Annual research review: Current limitations and future directions in MRI studies of child- and adult-onset developmental psychopathologies.

Background: The widespread use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in the study of child- and adult-onset developmental psychopathologies has generated many investigations that have measured brain structure and function in vivo throughout development, often generating great excitement over our ability to visualize the living, developing brain using the attractive, even seductive images that these studies produce. Often lost in this excitement is the recognition that brain imaging generally, and MRI in particular, is simply a technology, one that does not fundamentally differ from any other technology, be it a blood test, a genotyping assay, a biochemical assay, or behavioral test. No technology alone can generate valid scientific findings.

Treatment implications of the schizophrenia prodrome.

Schizophrenia is a debilitating neurodevelopmental disorder that strikes at a critical period of a young person's life. Early identification of individuals in the prodromal phase of a psychotic illness can lead to earlier treatment and perhaps prevention of many of the devastating effects of a first psychotic episode. International research efforts have demonstrated the success of community outreach and education regarding the schizophrenia prodrome and it is now possible to use empirically defined clinical and demographic criteria to identify individuals at a substantially increased risk for a psychotic illness.

Social functioning in young people at risk for schizophrenia.

Deficits in social functioning are potential risk factors for schizophrenia. Social functioning was assessed in 55 individuals "at risk" for schizophrenia, 16 first episode patients with schizophrenia and 45 normal comparison subjects. The Social Adjustment Inventory for Children and Adolescents (SAICA) was administered to adolescents <18 and the Social Adjustment Scale (SAS-SR) to young adults >17.